J.C. in B.C.

I'm blessed with the opportunity to teach the youth at my church.  Currently we're doing a study called J.C. in B.C.  This has been a great, eye-opening study of Old Testament passages.  The point of the study is to show how the Old Testament is about Jesus.

In John chapter one Jesus is called the Word and throughout the Scriptures the Bible is called the Word of God.  So, I believe that all Scripture points to Jesus.  Consider the time after Jesus' resurrection that when He was talking with two men on the road to Emmaus.

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself."  Luke 24:27

Jesus Himself showed that all of Scripture was about Himself.

It can be thrilling when you read the Old Testament like this because it will make the Old Testament new again to you.  The stories we've read a million times will have such clarity when we do this.  Rather than just going, "That was weird" or "How did they do that?" we respond by knowing we've seen Jesus rather than weird stories or simply fantastic tales of men and women with great faith.

Let me give you a couple of examples from what we've already studied.

The story of Abraham and Isaac, when Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac... In this story we often are left wondering if we have the kind of faith that Abraham did.  But we need to see Jesus in the story.  Abraham didn't have to sacrifice Isaac because God provided another lamb.  Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Abraham didn't have to sacrifice his own son; God the Father did it instead.  Isaac didn't have to carry the wood up the mountain and obediently be sacrificed; Jesus did that in his place on the Cross... in fact on the very same mountains!

Or the story of Joseph.  In the hundreds of times I read Joseph's story in Genesis I saw nothing but an amazingly patient and good man, and Joseph is that but I missed Jesus.  See Joseph went from beloved son to rejected to the point of slavery and jail to exalted ruler to bread giver and forgiver of his brothers.  Jesus went from beloved to rejected to exalted to bread giver and forgiver.  Jesus had heaven and left that to be a man.  He was rejected and betrayed by one of those closest to Him.  But then He was exalted and given the Name at which every knee will bow.  And He is the bread of life for all the world and He offers us forgiveness even though we were His enemies just like Joseph forgave his brothers who meant him evil.

See Jesus is all over the Old Testament.  I've only shown a sliver of two examples of that fact.  I encourage you to read some of the Old Testament stories and look for Jesus because He is there.  All Old Testament and New Testament Scriptures point to Jesus and Jesus crucified.  We just need to look.  So, use commentaries and notes.  Read with fresh eyes.  Do whatever you can to try to see Jesus in the Old Testament today.